Areté Editions

Areté Editions Fine Press Limited Edition publisher. We make extraordinary, beautifully handmade, illustrated books Our aim is to make books to our full potential.

In ancient Greece areté was the notion of excellence of any kind. It was bound up with the act of living to one’s full potential and it is the root of the English word art. Areté Editions was started in 2020 when publisher, film maker and writer Marcelo Anciano met letterpress printer Phil Abel. Marcelo: ‘I had suggested to the artist Gary Gianni that we work on another book together, just for us, and find a story that he felt he could doodle with and that I could design. He chose a short story by Neil Gaiman. After the project became a book, I asked Neil if we could publish it and he was graciously enthusiastic.
‘I was originally going to do the book with an established publisher, and also I was going to produce, for myself and Gary, twenty-six lettered copies that I wanted to have handmade. I found Phil’s Hand & Eye Editions online and when he saw the project he suggested we typeset the whole edition in hot metal, make relief plates for the illustrations and print it all letterpress.
‘Areté Editions was born.’

Brave New World...
09/08/2026

Brave New World...

One Roman copy of Lud-in-the-Mist has not been picked up! It’s on the sales page and includes rights for forthcoming Are...
03/06/2026

One Roman copy of Lud-in-the-Mist has not been picked up! It’s on the sales page and includes rights for forthcoming Arete Roman books. And only 29 copies of the numbered edition left. Get them while you can…

Lud-in-the-Mist finally, is ready for pre-sale. We’re pleased to tell you that the public pre-sale will run from 5pm BST...
02/06/2026

Lud-in-the-Mist finally, is ready for pre-sale. We’re pleased to tell you that the public pre-sale will run from 5pm BST (UK time) on 2 June.

- There are 8 copies of the Roman edition available with Patron rights attached – first come first served.

- There are 28 Numbered edition copies with rights attached – first come first served - and 75 non-rights copies of this edition for sale.

Available from https://www.arete-editions.com/store from 5pm BST (UK time) on 2 June.

The text and Scott McKowen’s forty-five illustrations are currently on press at Hand & Eye, who are working their way through the three pallets of paper needed for the book’s 380 pages. They are printing type and images separately to allow both to appear at their best. Once printed, the sheets will go to Ludlow Bookbinders, who expect to ship finished books this autumn.

Thank you!

Patrons of Arete Editions! Check your emails and your spam boxes. Some have not received their emails, if you think that...
30/05/2026

Patrons of Arete Editions! Check your emails and your spam boxes. Some have not received their emails, if you think that you should have received an invite and haven’t got a personalised link, please contact us via here or Arete.

The Roman Edition is printed on Liber Charta White 170 gsm paper and bound in a chocolate brown, full calf binding. The leather is coloured and sprinkled with dark brown and black dye and foil blocked in gold across the entire cover.
There are four raised bands on the spine, with hand tooled gold lines either side, together with title and author foil blocked in gold.
The endpapers are T6 Old Dutch Seventeenth to Nineteenth Century by Payhembury, makers of traditional and historical marbled papers.
The book block is gilded on all three edges, and the book comes in a solander box, the case of which is bound in a charcoal cowskin and foil blocked to the front and spine in gold. The trays are covered in black silk cloth and lined with Payhembury marbled paper.
The Numbered Edition is printed on Mohawk Superfine 148 gsm paper. It is bound in quarter black goatskin leather, with front and back boards covered with Payhembury E17 French Curl marbled paper, a seventeenth century pattern. There are two raised bands on the spine, with hand tooled gold lines either side, and the title foil blocked in gold.
There is a gold foil blocked leather label on the front board, and the endpapers are foil blocked front and back on the flyleaves. The top edge of the book block is gilded.
The slipcase is lined with soft black suedel and covered with black buckram ends and a blue/grey Colorado cloth wrap. The front of the slipcase will be foil blocked in black.
Trimmed size is 160mm x 240mm.

Sorry for the glitch! The Patron orders are open and, hopefully working! We’ll be sending out new links for people that ...
29/05/2026

Sorry for the glitch! The Patron orders are open and, hopefully working! We’ll be sending out new links for people that are still having issues! Try clicking on the photo. Orders are open for Patrons and everyone should have a link or a new link for your books! If you have been able to get through you should be getting an automatic confirmation email. Patron orders will run from now on 29 May to 5pm BST on 31 May. If you haven’t received one, check your spam boxes! The pre-sale opens to non-Patrons on 2nd June. But don't worry, each book for Patrons are reserved for you all for a couple of days

29/05/2026

There's a glitch in the Matrix! We don't know why Patron's can't order but Phil is working on it. Give him an hour or so and try again later, thanks for your patience.

Every time we make a book Rich makes up a digital copy as a book block. Here’s some vids and photos from that digital bo...
29/05/2026

Every time we make a book Rich makes up a digital copy as a book block. Here’s some vids and photos from that digital book block. Rich flicking through the pages giving a glimpse into the interior! This is a richly illustrated, with over 40 images! All will be letterpressed printed.

As a brief digression from presenting Lud-in-the-Mist, Gary Gianni is storming ahead with Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice...
28/05/2026

As a brief digression from presenting Lud-in-the-Mist, Gary Gianni is storming ahead with Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, so it may be our next book!
I am so thrilled to do this, it was one of the books that I loved as a child, it was the story that opened my eyes to fantastic fictions. It influenced generations of readers to not only become writers but also become space scientists. “Renowned planetary scientist and NASA advisor Carl Sagan read Burroughs’ books as a young boy. They ignited his lifelong fascination with the Red Planet, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and his eventual heavy involvement with the Viking and Voyager missions. Sagan fondly referred to the Mars of his childhood imagination as Barsoom.” Writers like Michael Chabon; “Burroughs was one of Chabon's earliest literary heroes. As a child, he was so captivated that he scrawled his name as "Mike Burroughs Chabon" in his books. He credits Burroughs' relentless narrative drive, pacing, and cliffhangers for fuelling his desire to become a writer.”
Here are a couple of his images and a sketch for one of the many paintings, it promises to be another extremely lavishly illustrated book.

Scott McKowen’s illustrations are stunning, over 40 images made by scratchboard which is perfect for letterpress relief ...
26/05/2026

Scott McKowen’s illustrations are stunning, over 40 images made by scratchboard which is perfect for letterpress relief printing, they are incredibly detailed (Scott worked with Phil to ensure absolute clarity). Here are a couple of Scott’s works in progress where you can see his technique. It is one of our most illustrative intensive books we have made!

Roman editionNow, finally, Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope ready for pre-sale. We’re pleased to tell you that the pre-sale will...
22/05/2026

Roman edition

Now, finally, Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope ready for pre-sale. We’re pleased to tell you that the pre-sale will open at 5pm BST on 2 June. It will follow on from the pre-sale for Patrons' rights holders, and any rights that have not been taken up will be offered to non-rights buyers of Lud-in-the-Mist on a first-come-first-served basis.

The book is bound in a chocolate brown full calf binding. The leather has been coloured and sprinkled with dark brown and black dye and foil blocked in gold across the entire cover.

Four raised bands on the spine with hand tooled gold lines either side. Title and author foil blocked in gold.

Endpapers are marbled with paper from Payhembury. The pattern for this one is called T6 Old Dutch 17th-19th century.

The book block is gilded on all three edges (head, tail and foredge).

The book comes in a solander box, the case of which is bound in a charcoal cowskin and foil blocked to the front and spine in gold.

The trays are covered in black silk cloth and lined with Payhembury marbled paper.

The Roman Edition is being printed on Liber Charta White 170 gsm paper.

Trimmed size is 160mm x 240mm.

First published in 1926, Hope Mirrlees Lud-in-the-Mist has come to be recognised as a classic of fantasy literature, revered by leading writers of the genre.

Michael Swanwick called it "one of the least known and most influential of modern fantasies… that rarest of creatures, the fantasy novel of ideas.”

Mary Gentle said “A Shakespearian tragi-comedy, a murder mystery, and a multi-faceted allegory all in one, and a damn good story too.”

And Neil Gaiman called it "one of the finest [fantasy novels] in the English language... It is a little golden miracle of a book." He said that Mirrlees's writing was "elegant, supple, effective and haunting: the author demands a great deal from her readers, which she repays many times over.”

We hope you’ll agree that our edition, the first by a fine press, is a fitting celebration of its centenary. We expect to ship finished books this autumn.

The price of the Roman Edition is £2250.00 plus carriage.

Address

12 Pinchin Street
London
E11SA

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+442074889800

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